Closing Prayer to Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ

Gracious and glorious Father,because you are rich in mercy,and great in love,and sovereign in grace,we ask that you would make this little booka window onto the panorama of your glory,and a skylight to your supremacy in all things.

By the truth-loving power of your Holy Spiritgrant that the glass pane would be clean—that what is faithful to your word would be confirmed,and what is not would be forgiven, not confusing.We ask that your cloud-banishing illuminationwould be given to our minds,and that spiritual understanding would fill our hearts,and that according to the command of your apostle,we would grow in the grace and knowledgeof our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

May we see the spectacular sins of the worldas horrible as they are.And may we see the holiness of Godas pure as it is.And may we see the rule of God over the sin of manas righteous as it is.And thus grant the steel of ultimate realityto strengthen the spine of our faith,and sweeten our lips for the bruised heart.

Put the ballast of biblical truthin the belly of our little boats,lest the crashing waves of calamityin these changing timescause us to capsize in the sea of trouble.

And according to your apostle’s warning,forbid that the increase of our knowledgewould cause the increase of our pride.Rather, O God of infinite wisdom,reveal, with all our understanding,the unfathomable sinfulness of our hearts without Christ,and the infinitesimal smallness of our strengthin comparison to yours,and the absolute dependence of our life on you,and the unfathomable depths of your judgments,and how dim is the mirror in which we see.

Grant to our minds and heartsnew and deeper capacities to see and savorthe glories of Jesus Christ.With every new glimpse of his glory in your word,let there awaken new affections in our hearts.Ignite our souls to treasure Christ in a way thatdestroys our sinful lustsand delights the deepest recesses of our beingand displays his truth and beautyto a world that does not knowthat this is what it needs more than anything.And from this all-satisfying treasuring of Christmay there flow a liberation from selfishness,and a triumph over bitterness and anger,and a freedom from worry and fear,and victory over depression and discouragement,and the severing of every root of sensual lust.

All this freedom, Lord, we seek for the sake of love.Grant that our contentment in Christ would be adissatisfied contentment,eager to expand by including others.Grant that the joy of the Lord would not be a solitary joy,but the strength to sacrificefor the good of others,even those who hate us.May brokenhearted boldnessand contrite courageattend all our deeds of compassionand all our commendations of Christ to a lost world.Awaken in us tender affectionsfor those who hurt,and self-forgetful attentivenessfor those in our presence.

And in this treasuring of Christ for his supreme gloryand this overflowing love for others,may Jesus be exalted above all things—honored, admired, adored, esteemed, enjoyed,praised, extolled, thanked, and worshiped.May our light shine in this worldso that people see you in our sacrificial deeds of loveand our uncompromising words of truthand give glory to your hallowed name,Father.